This man is the finest bricklayer on KZfaq, a true ambassador of this fine art.

this is so much better than standing on the street watching a bricklayer to learn, as they tend to get a bit bit nervous when you watch them for hours on end

That is exactly right, you can only lay one brick at a time, therefore just one bed is required each time. Next time you observe others running in using the long bed method, count how many times they return to the board/wall, you will see it is on average 2 journeys per brick, meaning to lay 10 bricks they have 20 visits to the board and wall, making them look fast because they have twice as much to do, whereas if you count my journeys to the wall it will be only 11. Remember, rush cuts corners.

It's quite mellow watching that lol the birds tweeting away, the scrape of the trowel on brick it's almost mesmerising top notch again rob!

watched all robs vids.he`s a true old school taught professional.keep posting rob.

u really are a master at this trade rob keep up the good work and a joy to watch u work

Thank you for the good video. I'm building a small and simple garden wall with concrete block backing and ancient rough cut bricks. It's my first brick project and it was going really slowly. After watching several of your videos I went much faster and got the joints well filled and pretty with much less trouble. I wish I could work as neatly as you do. I have a large clean-up coming when all is finished.

I have been a bricklayer 30 years , To be honist I have never really used profiles, its everyone to there own .I prefer to build my corners the old fashioned way, but give the gentleman credit end of the day this guy does do the job correctley , he his a very good tradesman I would love to see him do some of the old brick bonds we only ever seem to see the very boring half bond stretcher bond which ever ,all these old brickwork bonds are very rarely seen today as they dont seem to teach at college anymore.

Class bricklayer!! makes its look so easy!! Fair play!

Quality work ....just came to prove you cant rush a good job well done...

I work as a bricklayer and i have to say, this guy is an artist The respect and the appreciation of the sanctity of masonry is obvious in everyone of his videos. Even the way he moves is graceful haha

I love the way you purp up a brick

SPEED is nothing when you got quality . spot on .

Hi Adam. After dry bonding the first course, laying it and ensuring the second course was half bond to it I set up both profiles to enable me to run in without raising corners. If you watch 'Running In 2' you'll see a section of wall using pin holes and a profile, the whole wall was built like this with no corners/stop ends being raised beforehand.

love how people call u for your speed...I'd seriously love to watch them set out spiral pillars and other intricate builds you've done,,anyway rob keep it bro

Love this movement! Pure and simple!

There is no problem using profiles. Work smart, not hard! Keep up the good work rob.

why is it when u put ur hands on a brick it becomes a work of art 😍 i love every work u do from a simple wall to the spiral pillars u do ur a true artist

Yes it is 1 brick thick, double stretcher. And yes I am building alongside an existing wall. the two leaves are tied together by plug & screwing stainless steel fixing lugs to the existing wall. Normal cavity ties were used thereafter as the wall gained in height. Thank you for your comment

great work mate.your videos are brill. you cant beat private work. getting your own work. go at your own pace. get paid right.

Really liked the owls hooting in the background. Better than any music you could have dubbed in.

I have watched lots of robs videos and even done some bricklaying myself to a amature standard,up to now i have built 3 bbq's ,small wall and a storage box and i feel i am improving,i wish id started bricklaying years ago and made a living out of it,but i feel its a bit late for that now,so i just i just use my spare time doing small projects.

Sweet nature sound...with good job

Silent Yet Informative Explanatory Excellent A Trade Skill And Craft I'll Soon be Apart Of Kindest Of Regards from Old Erin 🍀

BRAVO mrs rob c avec des gens comme que j apprecie mon metiers de macon merci

thanks Michael, I knew before I started this channel I'd get mixed views so I'm used to those comments now. thanks again

Wao wao wao very nice art love your work⚘🌷⚘🌺🌻🍁🍂🥀🌹

thankyou for your video... so many idiots out there trying to do a video "look how fast i can do this" but you take your time .. still ur fluid and fast.. and doing a great job! but i guess that comes with time (im studying a lvl 3 in brickwork atmo) its nice to see everything set out and done as it should ... was rlly intimidated before by seeing all these other people saying stuff like u need to lay 600-1000bricks a day to be a good brickie cheers for bringing me back to earth! :)

Yes, I'm in the uk. Work here is strange at the moment, I've people I know who are struggling and yet there are several who haven't been busier.. Thank you for your comment and I hope things turn out good for you, I'm sure they will

Eres el mejor .Saludos desde España

Yeah it looked like an airoplane wing I also come across a small trowel a bit like a plasters gauger round at the front that they used on facework. In five years I never come across a spot board. They also like to use profiles and their bonds on facework where quarter bond a lot of the time. They also like the glue blockwork or blocks free of perp joints with male and female ends I also built some nice white stone houses with white lime mortar which looked smart. Beautiful clean country.

The most skill full trade of them all.

Makes me laugh all the silly negative comments. This guy is fast and tidy. And rob thanks for the pick and mix technique for saving time. Really helped me speed up. I still build the corners and use line and bricks on line blocks.

@robsonger1 but youve already got your bond from your courses below? and where would you put your level profiles? theres a pier in the way? you wouldnt be able to lay you bricks in there because your dolly block would be in a way?

Hi Rob, I'm just back on the tools after being a boss for a while. I love bricklaying and used to consider myself really good at it bunt I've never done some of the twisted stuff I see on your videos looks amazing. This is only 2nd vid I looked at. I've learned something new from every gang I worked with over the years. In this case I would have nailed 2x1 to the projecting pier with a folded piece of dpc just enough to get a line pin behind. I'd rap a bit of line so it pulled off the bottom of the pin with the pin facing into the wall above the coarse th be laid then you can lay even the first brick if you see what I mean. Best tip I ever got years ago was to save back ache and speed. Stack your bricks out of hod ( I know not used anymore) but I do not on edge like you stack hods like 6 on a dice with 6 more on top so 144 in a stack don't tie stacks in. Only draw from the front then when wall gets to waiste height you drawing from rear stacks at waiste height and you got that extra 9" of space between you and the wall you building as you get higher. Hope that makes sence I pointed this out to many other brickiesvi worked with but nobody seems to do it it works for me what you think?

Thank you for your comment and I'm glad the video's helped you. I hope your project goes well

Looks lovely, hope you were able to charge enough to make it worth it 👍

Hi Rory, without seeing these bricks it is difficult to suggest what to do. All I can say is that sometimes with specials they are numbered and come with a plan. If it is not as complicated as that I would say you need to do what we do on every piece of work and that is dry bond it out to see what you have, and what problems you may see. It sounds good that they obviously regard you highly to offer you this exercise. Send a picture when you start, and complete. Ask if you need more, and I'll try

I agree, it is a fine art.

I tell all my students never throw old levels away for the reason demonstrated in the video, I choose to keep and use my old levels as they are straight, rigid and still have a bubble for guidance. I also encourange my students to use profiles wherever possible to save raising corners as this saves so much time..as demonstarted. I hope this answers your comment.

very good clean tidy work. i have seen and heard of work which bricklayers do on sites and when you look close it it very rough (only after the money) no pride in there work i would rather be like yourself nice and steady but very good at your job good work rob

excellent job

lots off harsh talk about this mans work!This guy is more than just a brick layer he is an Artist with passion.Lets see some videos from the people talking shit!!!

your that neat and tidy rob you dont need a brush clean up when yer done! ha just interested in to why you dont do a full spread? and would you lay diferently say if you was on site building a house?

Thnk you Rob much appreciate the advice Thnk u

im currently doing my nvq 2 in brickwork and im starting out on site monday do you have any advice for a first time on site

Speed that's what's killed the quality of the trade these days. Screw what people are saying about speed you are a great brickie keep it up!

Very nice clean work, fine job. One question, is that a one brick thick wall ? as it looks like your butting up to the wall behind, if so how are you tieing them together?

Nice job!

Very good, just a slightly off topic question. When doing cavity walls, do you prefer partial fill insulation (PUR board) or full fill with Rockwool or something?

Nicely done .. here in Belgium we learn in general to lay bricks from left to right if you are right-handed ..its the standard.. and use corner poles most of the time

Excellent young man. Yes, my advice is to have the 3 H's, that is, be happy, honest and hardworking, then listen to advice and instruction, ask if you aren't sure, always look for hazards and always be on time. Someone who is unreliable is a burden to a team. Let me know how you get on.

Hello how do you glue for your brick, what quantity product. thank you

there are a few methods of applying the cross joints and I've worked with dozens of bricklayers and also assessed many on site for their NVQ's. From all of those bricklayers I've seen many applications but I was privilaged when I was 24yrs old to work with a Derek Almond who, out of all of them, applied a cross joint that never needed to be filled during jointing, so I adopted his method. Please see the video 'jointing'

Nice job and a professional doesn't speed ball, it takes time for fine wine. Iv'e seen people hurry up and F. up everything, 'hurry up and F up' is not the way to do fine Art work. Great job and quality work here.

thank you for taking to time to watch my video. With the profiles being clamped in the way they are my line was able to be tight enough to not require a tingle, just a plumb point. However, I do use tingles on longer walls, please see my video 'tingle' to see this. thanks again

haha....it's a proven point. I've many video's of site bricklayers who look like they are working fast, well they are that's because they are visiting their mortar board twice for each brick, retuning each time to the wall with one empty hand hence, they have to move twice as quick as I do.. meaning they miss finer points..this is why this is the 'fine art of brickwork' and not just brickwork. But thank you for your comment

Hello. The reason the pier is positioned there is to correspond to the wall the other side of the opening, ready for gates to hang on. If you look at the video Circular Ramp, curved on plan 2 (I think) I explain the ellispe I'm about to set out and you can see the pier you mentioned fully constructed and also the pier/wall it lines up with. I hope this explains your query

take him any day very neat and tidy

So simple you have to love it ! who cares about speed unless your a lines man or on price better to go at a steady past and be neat then rush and spoil your hard work

Yes I do have video's of foundations but they aren't on You Tube, they are kept on my PC with lots of others for my students. I video practically everything I do, those that I feel will benefit my students I broadcast here for them to review and revise on. I do my foundations slightly different to other people as the normal way always has the problem of the concrete burying the level pegs as it's being poured, so I changed my way. ..and thank you for your nice comment

profiles are the way forward but on this wall youd have to rack back and then build in the corners with a level anyway? or did you just do it to get running quickly for a video?

Well that depends on how you look at it. When I look around at work being done today I see mistake after mistake, and yes that is easy, for instance, simple balancing of cuts on a gable apex, simple cutting to rake and over arches, I could show you hundreds that aren't done correctly, the fine art is a dying trade, the fine art is easy with knowledge. Even architects still get many mortar mixes etc. wrong. Yes, I agree, doing it wrong is easy.

thank you for your comment

did you ever have a go of the berliner kelle when you were in germany,theres some akkordmaurer videos on here and some of those guys are quick blocklayers.theres a new guy phlilip baumgartner he put up some videos lately and he uses the pick up a block and enough muck to lay it method ,hes fast.

the profiles are used simply to eliminate the need to build corners, they are always set plumb, this in turn will ensure the collar joint remains constant. For coping explanations and the various types and the associated problems, I have learning packs available and hope to soon have a video to accompany them.

Exelent work Congratulations

Got any contact details? Visited your site, but it's not up at the moment.

thank you

Years ago an old mason told me the biggest mistake I was making was staying with the same contractor. I thought he was nuts. Years later after working for a couple of other contractors I found they all did things a little bit different. One built leads and the other used corner poles. I have worked with a hundred different masons and as it turned out the old mason was right. I hope you are not offended but the more masons you work with the more challenged you will be and you will spot the good ones from the bad ones easier.

This is private work so it has to be spot on or your not getting paid and get a bad name .site workers just think speed and the contractors just think greed .

nice work but why the pier 5 brick from the piller on a 9"wall less than 1 mtr high seems unessersary to me

we use profiles in Sweden,if you build a corner the traditional way,how many times are you checking it with a level ? if you set up a profile,you don't have to continually check the corner for plumb,IMO profiles are a lot faster.

What I love about this guy is that he is passionate at his trade craft. Gotta "love it, eat it breathe it", type of mentality. But why do so many people use these metal levels now? And that mortar board set up is so unique and weird to me. I hate wood, sucks up all the water out of the mortar. I used to use medal lids and still like them all slow work but when its time to go, those plastic tubs work wonders- and they are cheap

единственное, парни, что мне нравится в вашей работе - так это строительный раствор. он такой пластичный и кирпичом вы играете руками, а не мастерком. у нас в России известь на стройках не добавляют. Кладка - супер ))

@robsonger1 You took 3 minutes to put up your profiles yet people are saying they could build 2 leads quicker.Another man is saying you should tip and tail your perps as its quicker,doesn't matter that its wrong,its quicker.Again the negative comments about speed,the brickwork is perfect that's all that should matter,isn't that what the client is paying for?I approach every wall,pier etc as if I was back in Tech doing an exam.Your vids are a credit to you,and your students are very lucky.

i still want one of those spiral jigs

It's about time somebody dedicated several videos to the art of bricklaying, i'ts a totally underrated skill and it deserves much more stature then it presently holds. If you have the time, do you think you could dedicate one of your videos showing us how you butter a brick?? Most brickies do this fast and i'ts hard to see how it's done properly....also, heard there's many ways in buttering a brick. Can you show me a t least a couiple? Thanks so mu ch for your vids.

Hi Rob just a question, Is it over 3 m u need a dead man n tingle plate to keep the string tort or does it not matter

Some people on here a stupid 22 bricks in say 12 mins including jointing .work it out even 60 mins in a hour ÷12 mins =5 x 22 bricks = 110 in a hour including jointing therefore in a 8 hour shift he would be laying 880 bricks which is better than most bricklayers on sites and alot better quality !!

when you scrap the excess mortar from th bed joint, why don't you re-head the brick with that? You've got enough for a full head joint.It would really speed you up just a thought

rob you could cut that down to 10 trips if you bring mortar and a brick when laying the first brick.i notice your method is first to lay a bed for 1 brick,then return for a brick and mortar.why dont you bring a brick to the wall when laying the first bed.you method keeps you a bed of mortar ahead ,the only saving i can see is your not bearing the weight of the brick while furrowing the mortar.is that the reason for doing it like that.i notice the dutch and the germans dont furrow the mortar.

its lunch time now

Why only 1 pier?

i would pay money too see you build a corner ? can you build without profiles and bits of wood ?

Based on this quality which as a layman looks good, what should one expect a decent laying rate to be. I was once told 600, I've seen a couple of guys say in excess of a thousand. How much does prep help. So turning up at the start of a day and bricks piled where they should be etc etc does this make a big difference?

hmm, I made it 22 in just under 8 minutes but thank you for your comment

Who showed u to lay like that ???? Could of had that run in by now

thank you for your comment As for a video dedicating techniques to perp and bed joints, these are in the process of being sorted and will be available soon. Until then if you watch my video 'Perp joints'you will see a close up of my joint application and my video's 'Dry bond' & 'Running in 2' you will see both perp and bed application, I hope these help for now.

I understand what you were using them for just funny way of building this particular wall , like i said mate not here to slag you off , thanks for the reply

rob do you work on your own or have you got lads mixing for you and loading you out

I like this vieo

If you know how to spread mortar correctly you'll need little or no furrowing. You just need to make sure its to the edge and preferably not on the ground

clamps are good.

how can you say that spreading for more than 1 brick will take more trips to the mortar board? brick is layed with the left hand mortar exess scraped with the trowel in right hand .use that mortar to perp next brick and lay again . the reason is that you batter the bricks with the trowel not a good sign of a tradesman . THE HAND LAYS THE BRICK NOT THE TROWEL

Is Brick Laying good career to get into for young person??

Rod is the hesian sheeting only good if its dry

look's nice ! But should at least have a tingle in the middle to stop the line from sagging

20 bricks in 12 minutes? oh dear

yea right